★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Dystopic Horror) You’re a spy in an occupied city where the government brainwashes the masses through a hypnotic song. You’re almost immune, but that small vulnerability may cost you your life. (4,194 words; Time: 13m)
"Harmony," by Andy Dudak [bio] (edited by Andy Cox), appeared in Interzone issue 281, published on May 15, 2019 by TTA Press.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2019.298 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: The surface plot is simple: you need to flee the city and get to your nation’s embassy. But there’s a deeper message about the power of propaganda to infect even those who think themselves immune.
The flight across the city and through the underground passages adds lots of tension to the story. The ending is horrible but completely logical.
Con: The protagonist is such a psychopath it’s impossible to sympathize with him. The second-person narration doesn’t help very much.
It’s a small thing, but it irritated me that the story placed an embassy in a provincial capital. Embassies are only in capital cities.
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Andy Dudak Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: The surface plot is simple: you need to flee the city and get to your nation’s embassy. But there’s a deeper message about the power of propaganda to infect even those who think themselves immune.
The flight across the city and through the underground passages adds lots of tension to the story. The ending is horrible but completely logical.
Con: The protagonist is such a psychopath it’s impossible to sympathize with him. The second-person narration doesn’t help very much.
It’s a small thing, but it irritated me that the story placed an embassy in a provincial capital. Embassies are only in capital cities.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Andy Dudak Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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